Innovations in linking civil registration and vital statistics to identity management systems & 10 milestones allowing Mauritius to report mortality statistics to WHO since 1957 - presented at the UN World Data Forum 2017

1. INNOVATIONS IN LINKING CIVIL REGISTRATION AND VITAL
STATISTICS TO IDENTITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
&
10 MILESTONES ALLOWING MAUTITIUS TO REPORT
MORTALITY STATISTICS TO W.H.O SINCE 1957
William M. Ayelou, Registrar of Civil Status Division,
Prime Minister Office, Mauritius
Nasser Jeeanody, Chief Health Statistician,
Ministry of Health, Mauritius
16 January 2017

2. Mauritius
Area: 2,040 km²
Population: 1.3 million
Capital: Port Louis

3. History of Civil Status Division
3
Civil Registration
done by Catholic
Churches
Civil Registration
done by Catholic
Churches
Civil Registration
done by
Magistrates, Court
Officers, Railway
Workers
Civil Registration
done by
Magistrates, Court
Officers, Railway
Workers
Dedicated Officers
known as Civil Status
Officers appointed to
register civil events
Dedicated Officers
known as Civil Status
Officers appointed to
register civil events
French
Period(1715-
1810)
British
Period(1810-
1968)
Post
Independence
(1968 to date)

4. Services offered by the Civil Status
Division
4
Registration of live births
Registration of still births
Registration of Civil Marriages
Registration of deaths
Issuance of documents upon citizens’
application

5. Legal Framework
5
• The activities of the Civil Status Division are
governed by the following legislation:
 Civil Status Act and Regulation made there under
 National Identity Card Act and Regulation made there
under
 Data Protection Act and regulation made under
 Mauritian Civil Code
 Official Secret Act
 National Archives Act
 Mauritius Citizenship Act
 Relevant Sections of the Mauritius (Written) Constitution

6. Computerisation era
6
As from November 2001, the computerisation, in a
phase manner, of civil registration system started in
Mauritius.
Today the Civil Status Division has fully computerised
offices to serve the Mauritian Citizens.
Since October 2016, the Civil Status Division is ISO
9001:2008 Certified.
By the end of year 2017, e-services for application of
Civil Status Documents will be made available online.

7. Generation of Unique ID
at birth registration
7
According to the Civil Status Act of 1981, the
registration of birth shall be made before an officer
of the district in which the birth took place or in
which the parents resided at the time of the birth
within a time frame of 45 days as from the date of
birth of a child.
Upon the completion of a birth registration, a
Unique 14 Alphanumeric Identifier is automatically
generated and allocated to every child born (from at
least one Mauritian parent).

8. The Mauritius National Identity Card
8
The first Mauritian National Identity Card was issued
in the year 1986. This identity card was a laminated
paper-based card.
From 1986 to 2008, applications for a NIC were
processed manually and photographs were taken
using Polaroid cameras.
As from 2009, the electronic NIC system was
introduced and linked to the civil registration
database.
In October 2012, the Smart Identity Card was
introduced (with the support of Singapore).

9. The Mauritius National Identity Card
Scheme Project
9

10. DATA SHARING BETWEEN
GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES
10
Apart from the Civil Status Database, the Registrar
of Civil Status is also the repository of the Central
Population Database Version 2 (CPDv2). The
CPDv2is a system that safeguards the latest
information of a Mauritian Citizen.
The goal for the CPDv2 is to store a subset of data
from the CSD and National Identity Card systems.
The CPDv2 enables the Civil Status Division to share
citizen’s data with government agencies through the
Information Highway

11. Linking CRVS to identity
management systems
11
• Linkages among Ministries and public
departments in place in Mauritius for use
of civil registration and NIC data.
• This reduces duplication of data to a
minimum, with obvious cost and
efficiency gains for all stakeholders.

12. Info Highway
12
• Currently two Government Organisations, namely the
Civil Status Division and the Ministry of Social
Security, are exchanging data through the Info
Highway, resulting in a much more efficient
processing of pensions.
• In the coming months, other Government
Organisations will exchange data through this
platform thereby reducing the administrative burden
on citizens and businesses.

13. Extension of Info Highway
13
The Ministry of Labour, to monitor registration of
unemployed people.
Ministry of Education, to facilitate admission in
educational institutions.
Electoral Office, to verify list of valid voters.
Mauritius Police Force, for National Security
purposes.
Mauritius Revenue Authority, for tax evasion.
Independent Commission Against Corruption and
Financial Intelligence Unit, for ensuring a strong anti
corruption system and money laundering.

14. 10 milestones in practice that have allowed
Mauritus to continuously report cause-of-
death statistics to W.H.O since 1957
14
• Well established collaboration of the Civil Status
Division with Statistics Mauritius and Ministry of
Health for compilation of reliable population and
vital statistics , including quality cause of death
data
• Electronic exchange of data since 2005

15. 1st
milestone: Notification
• Registration of death is mandatory by law
• Earliest death record in 1793 - cause of death had
to be spelt out by relatives
• Certification by doctor as from 1st April 1948
• Mortality coding introduced in 1957
“No interment, cremation or immersion at sea of the
body of any dead person shall take place without a
permit from an officer in such form as the Registrar
of Civil Status may approve”.
Section 38 of the Civil Status Act

16. Attributing proper
cause of death:
Underlying /
Direct Cause of
Death

17. Milestones:
• 2nd
: Validation through the use of ID card of
declarant and Medically certified cause of
death certificate
• 3rd
: Registration through the 34 fully
computerised Civil Status Offices and using
the unique identifier obtained from the system
of birth registration
• 4th
: Certification through the civil registration
database using on-line verification

18. Milestones:
• 5th : Information sharing of death database
through a well established protocol between
Statistics Mauritius and Ministry of Health
• 6th : Archiving by the Civil Status Division,
legal repository, and by SM and MoH for
statistical purposes
• 7th
: Compilation of cause of death statistics
with codes from ICD-10 and production of
tabulations for monitoring and publication

19. Milestones:
• 8th : Quality control through different
statistical methods such as check for missing
data using frequencies, trend analysis and use
of information from other sources such as
police report and hospital death database
• 9th
: Generation of vital statistics by SM with
support of MoH for cause of death data and
derived rates available monthly and published
every 6 month

20. 10th Milestone: Dissemination
• Population and vital statistics readily available
including with cause of deaths
• Monthly data provided on request
• Bi-annual reports on website of Statistics
Mauritius (http://statsmauritius.govmu.org)
• Annual reports by Civil Status Division, SM
and MoH
• Health Statistics Annual Report on MoH
website (http://health.govmu.org)
• MoH responsible to submit annual cause-of-
death database to W.H.O

21. Quality and timeliness of cause of death data greatly
improved due to:
- Shift from ICD-9 to ICD-10 (in 2005)
- Intensive training to Health Statisticians
- Computerisation of Civil Registration
- Booklet to Medical Practitioners on how to properly
complete the death certificate
- Close collaboration between Civil Status Division,
Statistics Mauritius and Ministry of Health for data
validation and quality control

22. Thank You
22